Buy it... if you yearn to supplement your collection of dramatic
and bombastic John Williams music with a truly spirited, fully
orchestral, and infectious comedy score highlighted by an irresistible
sense of rhythm and charm.

Avoid it... if you've never been receptive to the short bursts of
cutely optimistic comedy and saccharine romance that Williams had
inserted as individual cues in his works dating back to the 1980's.

Editorial Review:

Written
6/10/04, Revised 9/22/11 - Filmtracks Rank: #209

William

The Terminal: (John Williams) At the time of its
release, there was debate about whether director Steven Spielberg's
The Terminal was inspired by the true story of an Iranian stuck
in France's Charles de Gaulle Airport back in 1988, but regardless of
its origins, the concept was certainly a novel one for the big screen in
2004. Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) finds himself trapped in a New York
airport terminal because war has broken out in his native Eastern
European nation (literally while he was on his flight from that country
to America) and his passport and other documentation is therefore no
longer valid. Unable to be sent back and unable to be allowed out of the
terminal, Navorski lives a portion of his life trapped in the airport,
becoming a fond fixture for employees and even sparking a romance with a
flight attendant (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Rather than making the film one
of horror and frustration (which, as any of you stuck in an airport for
a day or two will know, is a believable nightmare), Spielberg extended
the inventive and funny aspects of Hanks' character to achieve a
light-hearted and spirited comedy. Audiences didn't buy it, however, and
The Terminal has since become one of the director's more obscure
footnotes. It represented the 21st collaboration between Spielberg and
composer John Williams, finally a long overdue opportunity for the two
artists to produce the sounds of pure fun and romantic comedy not
restrained by the typically elevated melodrama of Spielberg's usual
topics of interest. The previous collaboration between Spielberg and
Williams, Catch Me If You Can, was likewise a relief from their
futuristic, post-2000 sci-fi endeavors, however you'd have to go back to
the early to mid-1990's to hear Williams pull truly unhindered,
lighthearted material out of his hat. It would be easy to state that
The Terminal is by far the brightest comedic effort of the
composer's latter twenty years of writing, and when looking at his
output in the decade of the 2000's (abbreviated because of his
semi-retirement after 2005), it blatantly stand out. But collectors of
his works may associate it with the jazzy era of Williams' career
(centered in the 1960's), when silliness prevailed in many of his
smaller-scale scores.

As opposed to the outdated sound of those jazzy 1960's
scores by Williams, The Terminal is an ageless comedy because it
extends its humor through the timeless classical sounds of Williams'
masterful orchestral styles from his prime. Utilizing a personality of
Eastern Europe flair that extends through history, The Terminal
is a score that could function just as well for an identical story set
in 1975 as it would if told in 2025. Paying homage to echoes of the
immigration struggles of generations past, Williams does provide the
score with the colors of Mediterranean romance and the ethnicity of
yesteryear. But the complex construction of the composition is a
constant magnet guiding the music back to the current standards of
excellence in classical writing that makes Williams' music, usually
regardless of genre, accessible to contemporary ears. The composer
presents the score in his customary format, a suite-like performance of
the Viktor Navorski theme introduced at the beginning and featured in a
reprise at the finale. From the first notes, Williams lets listeners
know very clearly that the score's personality will be that of a lightly
dancing comedy with a perky, adventurous heart. Navorski's theme
prevails throughout the score, acting as a lens through which Williams
focuses the entire work. As opposed to Williams' nearly concurrent score
for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which presents
brilliant ideas all over the musical spectrum but loses a dominant focus
overall, The Terminal is extremely consistent in its thematic
loyalty and Williams' thankfully diligent refusal to allow the tone to
become too serious at any point. The highlights of the score are the
moments during which free-flowing rhythms established by strings are
joined the woodwinds delicately stating the score's melodies above them.
Often starting with solo clarinet and expanding to a guitar and
accordion, the theme is extremely infectious in its bubbly enthusiasm
even though its elusive progressions and accelerated pace of movement
make it difficult to whistle the tune once it has passed (especially in
its remarkably twisting interlude sequence). The clarinet performances
in the primary suite are extremely affable and finely enunciated (thank
goodness it wasn't the nasal tone of an oboe!), leading to an atmosphere
of delight, friendship, and curious innocence that lifts your mood with
its ceaselessly optimistic charm.

Glimpses of this form of comedy writing from Williams
had been heard before, often as part of his music for children's films,
but never on the score-wide scale heard in The Terminal. Even
detractors of accordions could marvel at the rapidly key-changing
performances of the instrument here, dancing with the same precision as
those of the lead clarinet (and even outperforming the clarinet in the
suite performances). The accordion is really the only specialty
instrument in the score, but Williams proves that he can write Luis
Bacalov music (as in "A Happy Navorski Ending") just as well as Bacalov
can, complete with the rumble of the piano emphasizing passing bars of
the theme. The piano is central element in The Terminal,
performing the elegant, though rather short love theme heard first in
"Dinner With Amelia." A touch of the broad romance from Sabrina
is reprised in this idea, but this time with far more spirit boosting
its fuller performances. Particular cues of note include "A Legend is
Born," in which Williams opens with a timpani and broad brass style of
the 1980's that blossoms into a Western-like motif of high adventure,
and the lesser cousin of that material in "Looking for Work." In
"Refusing to Escape," Williams inserts a token nod to Bernard Herrmann,
shifting into the composer's trademark quivering strings and offering a
short performance of the Cape Fear theme at 1:38. In "Gupta's
Deliverance," Williams extends his instrumentation briefly into the
realm of the electronic choir. The rambling figures of "Finding Coins
and Learning to Read" remind of the homely tone of The River. The
source piece, "Krakozhia National Anthem," is appropriately pompous in
its militaristic progressions. The overall personality of The
Terminal, however, is summed up by the "Destiny" finale cue, in
which Williams builds to a momentous statement of the love theme and
then unleashes Navorski's theme in all its glory. The emotional balance
of the score is strong, the romantic elements often maintaining some
skip in their step that maintains the overarching, rhythmic movement of
the entire score. Overall, The Terminal is about as likable a
Williams score as you will ever encounter. The sound quality is
outstanding (significant reverb has been applied for the album
recording), with the head-spinning clarinet and accordion performances
mixed magnificently. As the maestro approached his late 2000's
retirement, it was great to hear Williams pull off a truly mature comedy
while maintaining the spirit of an eight-year-old, and the infectious
result is highly recommended to any film music listener in search of an
instant mood perk. *****Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.74 (in 69 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.59
(in 337,044 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.